Press release 21/12/2018

Total exports of goods from the Basque Country increased by 17.7% in October 2018, and imports by 19.0%

In the first ten months of 2018 as a whole, exports were up by 9.0% and surpassed 21,600 million euros

In October 2018 there was a 17.7% rise in exports of goods from the Basque Country, in year-on-year terms, according to EUSTAT data. They totalled 2,543 million euros compared to 2,160 million in the same month of the previous year. Exports of Energy products were up 32.6% and non-energy product exports experienced growth of 15.7%.

Bizkaia is the province that registered the greatest increase, 29.7%, due to the increases in exports of both Non-energy products (28.9%) and, above all, Energy products, which increased by 31.4% this month. In Gipuzkoa, exports as a whole were up by 12.0%, and in Alava they rose by 7.1%.

Imports of goods to the Basque Country experienced a 19.0% rise, reaching a total of 1,928 million euros. Energy imports were up by 59.4% and non-energy imports up 5.7%. By province, in Bizkaia imports grew by 26.0%, in Gipuzkoa they were up by 16.9% and in Álava by 2.6%.

Analysing the 48 largest branches of activity (A86), and in relation to exports, of particular relevance this month was the fall in exports of products relating to the Manufacture of motor vehicles, which was down 7.9%; however, this continued to be the branch with the highest volume of exports (21.5% of the total), despite representing 29.5% of the total this January. The second largest this month (11.9% of the total), Iron and Steel products, rose by 65.2% and the third, Coke Plants & Oil Refining (11.0% of the total), by 41.1%. It is also worth mentioning the significant increase registered by the activity branch Rubber products, up 77.5%. Furthermore, the branch of Production of non-ferrous metals is the only one in the top ten, if we exclude the already mentioned Manufacture of motor vehicles, which saw a decrease this month, specifically of 4.9%.

A more detailed look reveals that, this month, topping the ranking of the 958 export duty groups are Petroleum Oils, Passenger cars with between 5 and 10 seats, Vehicle parts and accessories, Goods transport vehicles and New Rubber Tyres; these five accounted for 33.3% of the total in October 2018, with a combined value of 846.4 million euros; of which, 613.4 corresponded to the vehicle sector. Regarding the groups that occupy the top 25 positions, of particular note are the year-on-year increases in Metal-working machines, including presses (235.7%), Seamless pipes or hollow sections made of iron or steel (168.8%), New rubber tyres (122.0%) and Electrical transformers, static converters and inductors (114.8%). Also of note, but in the opposite direction, is the decrease in Passenger cars with between 5 and 10 seats (-29.0%).

In October five countries (France, Germany, United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) are our main clients, absorbing 50.9% of total exports from the Basque Country. Four of them belong to the EU 28, an entity that accounts for 66.7% of exports, having posted growth of 17.8% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Analysing imports by branches of activity (A86), it can be observed that the largest, Extraction and Petroleum Industries (30.7% of the total) saw an increase of 53.3%. There was also growth registered in the groups that, by order of importance, follow this, these being: Iron and Steel products (33.5%), and General use machinery (13.6%), with the exception of Motor vehicles, which fell by 10.7%.

This month our imports have mainly come from, in order: Germany, France, China, Russia and Norway, these latter two being energy-related.

ACCUMULATED FIGURES FOR THE FIRST TEN MONTHS OF 2018

Foreign trade in goods from the Basque Country during the first ten months of 2018 had a positive balance of 4,703 million euros

For the first ten months of 2018 as a whole, Basque Country exports registered an increase of 9.0% compared to the same period of the previous year (1,786.6 million more), which translates into an increase in the trade balance of 350.1 million euros compared to that registered in the same period of the previous year.

Bizkaia exports, during the period in question, were the largest in the Basque Country, with a total of 8,881.9 million euros and growth of 12.2%. Álava saw 7.7% growth (6,465.1 million) and in the case of Gipuzkoa growth was 6.1% (6,311.9 million).Considering the type of product, the greatest contribution to the aforementioned growth was provided by Non-Energy Products, with 1,442.3 million, whereas Energy Products contributed 346.3 million, all in nominal terms.

Of the 25 largest branches of activity (A86) by export volume, 19 saw sales increase and only six registered decreases for the first ten months of the year as a whole. Amongst the most important groups, the growth of products related to Coke Plants & Oil Refining particularly stands out (23.9%), exceeding that exported during the same period of the previous year by 349.2 million, to stand at 1,808.0 million euros. There were also increases in Iron and Steel products (22.7%) and Rubber products (17.9%). In turn, the branch with the highest volume of exports was that of products relating to Manufacture of motor vehicles (5,410.4 million and 25% of the total), which grew by 7.6%.

The export ranking of the first ten months of 2018 situates Germany as the prime receiver country of Basque exports, with 15.3% of the total exported. Germany is followed by France (15.1%) and the United States (8.3%). These three countries account for almost 38.7% of Basque exports between them.

Accumulated imports for the Basque Country as a whole until October 2018 amounted to 16,955.7 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms we see that it represents 1,438.4 million more than that registered in the same period of 2017. Bizkaia made the highest contribution, 896.8 million euros (62.3%), to the aforementioned increase in imports, followed by Álava with 263.0 million and Gipuzkoa with 278.6 million. Imports of Energy Products rose by 15.3%, with those of Non-energy Products doing so by 7.0%.

Foreign trade in goods in the Basque Country during the first ten months of 2018 had a positive balance of 4,703.3 million euros, 350.1 million more than that registered during the same period of the previous year, which represents a coverage rate of 127.7%. This rate is over 100 (exports exceed imports) in respect of nearly all EU 28 countries, except in the cases of Ireland, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. In relation to Germany it is 135.7% and for France and the United Kingdom it stands at 204.4% and 218.2% respectively.